By Jamie Donohue, VRG Intern

Despite Upton’s Breakroom’s reputation as an iconic vegan staple in an up-and-coming Chicago neighborhood, you would never guess this from its humble appearance. In fact, I accidentally drove past it as I searched for some large, trendy bistro set up in an abandoned brick warehouse (in my experience, most trendy Chicago restaurants look like this).

Upton’s Breakroom is a small, white-walled cafe nestled into the corner of Chicago’s Ukrainian Village. While the exterior appears fairly normal, what most people may not notice is the large Upton’s Naturals seitan factory behind the restaurant – the company produces popular meat alternatives found in grocery stores such as barbeque jackfruit, Italian seitan, and bacon mac and cheese. The benefit of attaching a restaurant to the factory is that dishes are created to best utilize the texture and flavor of Upton’s Naturals products, and it also serves as inspiration for the customers to recreate their favorite menu items at home.

Upton’s Breakroom serves al pastor-style jackfruit tacos, Bahn Mi sandwiches, Italian beef subs, and bacon seitan, all of which is possible for anyone to make using Upton’s products. Overcome with the amount of delicious options, I ordered the bacon mac and cheese, bahn mi, Korean BBQ tacos, and vanilla soft serve ice cream – that’s right, they have vegan soft serve! I brought the food home with me to share with my family, and we immediately understood why Upton’s has become such a Chicago staple. Everything we ate was flavorful, interesting, and truly inspired. I also loved knowing that I could easily recreate the mac and cheese by simply stopping at my local grocery store and finding the product in the vegan section.

Overall, Upton’s is a fantastic place to stop by for a quick lunch or hearty dinner any time of the year. Their soft serve flavors change throughout the summer, just in case you want something a little more exciting than vanilla (lucky for me, it’s my favorite flavor). The service is quick and efficient, and you can take your food to go or dine in if tables are available. The prices are also quite reasonable, considering the restaurant’s popularity, location, and quality.

To find vegan and vegetarian restaurants in your area, check out The Vegetarian Resource Group Restaurant Guide at VRG Online Veggie Restaurant Guide